Running-gear for portable houses.



PATENTED DEC. 17, 1907 hU ,0 NH ME RL B DA NT R A0 n 0 HP. R m MG G Rm W.N N U R APPLICATION FILED FEB, 2; 1907.

lllllllllllllll .llllllllllllllgil an s'r ATENT WILLIAM F. KRAMER AND CHARLES ANDERTON, JR, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

RUNNING-GEAR FOR PORTABLE HOUSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, l/VILLIAM F. KRAMER and CHARLES ANDERTON, Jr., citizens of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Running-Gear for Portable Houses; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements comprising a running gear for portable houses, such for example, as voting booths.

Portable houses of the character de scribed, comprise a construction which is necessarily free from steps other than the sills of the doors at the entrance, and are hung low enough to admit of an easy ingress and egress; being suspended on the drop bracket axles to swing the bottom of the house about eight inches from the ground, thus making an easy ingress and egress and eliminating steps.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a running gear to meet the requirements, and portions of which are fixtures of the house, and which running gear enables the voting booth to be transported from one place to another without elevating it from its position while in use and with little labor.

To the foregoing ends, the invention consists of two drop axle brackets which support the house and the rear wheels at a point a little above the lower line of the house, say from four to six inches. The rearward carrying wheels may be readily placed upon such axles and removed therefrom without disturbing the elevation of the house to any great extent. The forward end of the house has a fixed draft bar to which the axle of the front draft wheels is detachably connected through means of a king bolt, all as hereinafter more specifically described.

Preceding a detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1, is a side elevation of a portable house, such as a voting booth having an improved running gear applied. Fig. 2, is a sectional view of a portion of a side and the fioor of the house; also one of the supporting wheels, the bracket and inner angle iron being shown. Fig. 3, is a front elevation of the front axle, parts of which are broken away, showing the king bolt connection with the draft bar. Fig. 4, is a top plan view of the draft bar connecting the axle of the front draft wheels with the running gear.

In a detail description of the invention, similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts.

The portable house or booth A, of course is of any desirable capacity, and as usually constructed is oblong in shape approaching somewhat an equilateral rectangle. There is one essential that these'portable houses or booths must possess, and that isthey must be as low to the ground as possible in order that extra steps shall be obviated. To facilitate the transportation of these portable houses or booths, a running gear needs to be provided which will transport the same in its natural position and without elevating the same at the terminal of transportation. To these ends, we provide two drop bracket axles, one each being attached to opposite sides of the house a suitable distance to the rear these drop bracket axles each comprise two right angled portions BB one angle of which extends under the bottom of the house and is attached thereto, and the other angle extends upright against the side E of the house. Integrally joined to the upright angle of each bracket is spindle J which is adjacent to the lower line of the house, or in other words, is approximately mid-way of the length of the upright angle of said bracket.

Detachably mounted on the spindles J are the carrying wheels K which, owing to the positions of the spindles J on the angle brackets, permit the lower line of the house to lie its natural distance from the ground while being transported from and to destination. The upright angle of each of these brackets, as before stated, embraces the sides of the house and are made secure by a suitable number of bolts M. The lower or horizontal angle B extends under the bottom of the house and is made secure to a sill D by a suitable number of bolts M. On the inner side of the house, in positions in alinement with the drop axle brackets BB is an angle iron F which embraces the bottom sill D and the upright wall E on the inner side; the bolts M passing through these inner angle irons; there is thus provided a rigid and durable connection for each of the rearward axle brackets and these brackets are thus made fixtures which remain in position on the house. Extending from the front of the house is a draft bar I which is secured to the longitudinal sills of the house by a suitable number of bolts I and this also becomes a fixture. The fiont end of the draft bar I has a king bolt opening by means of Which it is coupled and suspended to the axle G Which supports the front draft wheels K and from which extends the draft tongue N. The draft bar I projects into a keeper H Which is bolted to the lower side of the draft axle G and the king bolt 0 penetrates an aperture in said axle G, draft bar I and keeper II, and thus forms a pivotal connection between the front draft Wheels and the draft bar. As the house is shown in Fig. 1, it is in the act of being transported; when thus transported to the desired location, suitable blocks are placed beneath the front end of the house, and the front running gear is removed by taking out the .king bolt, said moving gear being thus ready for transporting other houses.

We claim:

In a running gear for portable houses or voting booths, two angle brackets attached to opposite rearward sides of the house, one angle of said brackets extending under and attached to the bottom of the house, and the other angle of said brackets extending upright and attached to the sides of the house, integral spindles projecting from the upright angles of said brackets mid-way of the length of said upright angles, said spindles being adapted to support the rear carrying wheels with the bottom of the house in juxta-position to the ground, angle irons conforming to the shapes of said angle brackets and arranged on the inner sides of the house in alinement with the angle brackets and to which said angle brackets are secured by bolts penetrating the sides and bottom of the house.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures, in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. KRAMER.

CHARLES ANDERTON, JR.

Witnesses:

R. J. MoOARTY, C. M. THEOBALD. 

